Kael woke to silence.
Not the kind that precedes danger.
The kind that means you're safe.
His body didn't ache. His thoughts weren't screaming. The fire inside him flickered steady and low, like a hearth and not a wildfire.
Riven sat near the entrance of the hollow, bare-armed, her silver hair loose, face turned up toward the faint shafts of light filtering through the tree canopy.
She hadn't run.
She hadn't left.
And Kael felt that more deeply than anything else.
"I don't feel it anymore," he said softly.
Riven looked over her shoulder. "The flame?"
"No. The fear."
She nodded. "That's what a tether does."
Kael sat up, dragging in a breath.
She watched him. Then asked, "If you weren't running anymore… what would you want?"
The question hit harder than it should have.
Kael thought of Lyra. Of Arden. Of everything that had been taken from him in a single night.
And then he looked at Riven—still sitting there, still real, still here.
His voice cracked. "I want to be someone that isn't just surviving."
Her gaze softened. "You already are."
She reached out and touched his hand. Her fingers were calloused, warm, steady.
Kael didn't pull away.
Instead, he turned his hand over—and laced his fingers between hers.
Her lips parted slightly.
"I don't know what this is," he said honestly. "But it doesn't feel like what I had with her."
"No," Riven whispered. "It feels alive."
He tugged her closer, not with force—but with intent.
She crawled toward him on quiet hands and knees, straddling his legs, her body lowering gently over his. Their foreheads touched.
This time, she didn't hesitate.
And neither did he.
The kiss was slow. Unhurried.
No fire. No frenzy.
Just the press of breath, the learning of lips, the softness of skin against skin as if both of them were afraid the moment would disappear if they moved too fast.
Kael's hand slipped into her hair.
Riven's palm found the side of his chest, feeling the steady rhythm of a heart finally his own.
When they broke apart, she didn't move away.
She rested her head against his.
And whispered, "I've wanted to do that since the night you bled in my arms."
Kael's throat tightened. "I've wanted it since before I trusted I could want again."
She kissed the corner of his mouth.
He kissed the base of her neck.
Their bodies didn't rush ahead. Not yet.
But they fit.
Perfectly.
Like a flame, bound to its wick.